Nader Shah Afshar
| dynasty = House of Afshar | parents = Emam Qoli (father) | religion = Personally irreligiousLockhart, Laurence, "Nadir Shah: A critical study based mainly upon contemporary sources", London, Luzac & Co, 1938, p.278Michael Axworthy's biography of Nader, The Sword of Persia (I.B. Tauris, 2006), pp. 168-170 Born Twelver Shia MuslimMichael Axworthy's biography of Nader, The Sword of Persia (I.B. Tauris, 2006), p. 34 Officially Ja'fari school of Shia IslamMichael Axworthy's biography of Nader, The Sword of Persia (I.B. Tauris, 2006), pp. 164, 176, 177, 187, 236, 258Tucker, Ernest, "Nadir Shah and the Ja'fari Mazhab reconsidered", in Iranian Studies, vol. 27, 1-4 (1994), 163-179.Tucker, Ernest, "Nadir Shah's quest for legitimacy in post-Safavid Iran", University Press Florida, 2006 | born = 22 November 1688Nader's exact date of birth is unknown but August 6 is the "likeliest" according to Axworthy p.17 (and note) and The Cambridge History of Iran (Vol. 7 p.3); other biographers favour 1688. Dargaz, Persia | died = 19 June 1747 (aged 58) Quchan, Persia | buried = Mashhad, Iran | wars= Nader's Campaigns }} Nader Shah Afshar (1688 or 1698, to 1747), also known as Tahmasp Qoli Khan or Nader Qoli Beg, was Shah of Persia and founder of the Afsharid lineage. Nader Shah Afshar dispelled the invading Afghans, to claim the Persian throne in 1736. Nader captured Kandahar, Kabul, to defeat the Indian army then, sacking Delhi and slaughtering thousands of local people; there, Nader stole the Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Peacock Throne. Early life Nader Shah Afshar was born at Khorasan, within the Qereqlu clan of the Afshars. Nader's family was of peasants; whereas Nader was a child when he lost his father, both Nader and his mother were enslaved by the Uzbeg people. Subsequently, Nader Shah Afshar managed escaping from then, and being still a child joining the armed bands of the region; Nader would ascend in their ranks, to end up leading some of them. So, Nader eventually joined the Turkic Afshar people, eventually leading them. Rising Fighting the invaders By 1719, the Afghans had revolted, dethroning the Persian shah, as the nation was also invaded by Ottomans and Russians; amidst such chaos, initially for expelling the Afghans from Khorasan, Nader Shah Afshar and his 5,000 men joined the Safavid tribe. When Nader denounced some treacherous correspondence of two officers of the shah, Nader was appointed the supreme commander of the army; Nader then was known as the Tahmasp Qoli (slave of Tahmasp). In 1726, Nader retrieved Mashhad, but he then decided not to rush straightly for liberating Isfahan, the capital of the Safavid dynasty. Instead, Nader defeated the Afghans at Herat, and some Abdali Afghans indeed joined his army. Then, Nader finished off the enemy in 1729, in two battles Damghan and at Murchakhort. Next, it was Isfahan's turn, and Nader restored it to the Safavids. During 1730, Nader faced the Ottomans, indeed retrieving most of their invaded territories. However, Nader forcibly had to attend a rebellion of the Abdali Afghans, who were besieging Mashhad, which was suppressed after a protracted struggle of fourteen months. Claiming the crown Despite liberating Isfahan, Nader immediately spoilt the city for rewarding his armies. Disregarding, Nader married the shah's sister, and he also was appointed governor of many eastern areas, amongst which his native Khorasan was. Although Nader Shah Afshar had attained so many military victories, the ruling shah did silly things which led to the losing of most Nader's conquering against the Ottomans. Nader took political distance then, denouncing such treaties before the public opinion, while seeking consensus for a war against the Ottomans. Furthermore, Nader publickly mocked the national leader of the Safavid at Isfahan, bringing him to a public space, while he was quite drunk. Nader definitively deposed him in 1732, taking the power as their regent in 1732 while appointing his child for that throne; in 1736 Nader definitively seized the crown just for himself, becoming the Shah. Finishing the Ottomans Nader Shah Afshar expected retrieving the invaded Persian territories of Persian Armenia and Georgia, through attacking the Ottomans right upon Baghdad. Despite the distractions of many Persian revolts, Nader reached the outskirts of Baghdad twice; he was repelled in 1733, but in 1735 he managed keeping the siege over that city and over the northern Ganja as well. After achieving a pact with the Russians, Nader definitively defeated the numerically superior Ottomans at Baghavard. The Russians also agreed to recall all their troops from Persian land. Finishing the Afghans Nader wouldn't give up the fight against the Afghans either, chasing their leader until he was assassinated by his own followers. In 1738, Nader leveled Kandahar, and then he built Naderabad off there. At this point, the Afghan menace had been definitively dispelled from Iranian territory. Expanding Nader Shah Afshar started building his new kingdom, with northern campaigns over Afghanistan, capturing Kandahar and Kabul (1738). Then, Nader headed eastwards, irrupting into India in 1739, to firstly defeat its Mughal armies at the Battle of Karnal in February, then foraying the fallen Delhi in March. As 30,000 local people were slaughtered, for Nader the booty comprised invaluable things (the Peacock Throne), hatfuls of gems (including the Koh-i-Noor diamond), and several thousands of young slaves. Indeed, the whole of it resulted so valuable, that back in Iran Nader Shah Afshar didn't need to collect taxation amongst his people for the next three years. In his violent kingdom Nader Shah Afshar ruled his big kingdom under convulsed circumstances: In 1740, he executed the original Safavid royal family, whose deposition had originally yielded Nader's crowning; in 1741, after a failed assassination attempt Nader blinded his own elder son. His Death Nader Shah Afshar was assassinated in 1747. Category:Safavid Empire Category:Persian rulers